The present invention relates to the manufacture of brick. More specifically, the invention relates to the manufacture of brick having an aged design, old brick appearance, or handmade look. The words xe2x80x9cold brickxe2x80x9d as used herein means brick having the appearance of previously used salvaged brick and/or brick having an old, handmade, antiqued design or appearance.
There has been a long standing demand for old or used brick for use in certain types of high quality building construction. However, there is a great deal of labor and expense involved in salvaging old brick from demolished buildings and the like and in removing mortar and otherwise preparing such brick so as to make it capable of being used in new construction. The brick industry has consequently attempted to provide new brick having the appearance of old or similar brick designs. One method of producing this effect is to tumble green brick off of a conveyor. The green (unfired) brick are dropped on and tumble down a ramp. This process produces a very random pattern of flattened or mashed corners and edges. Because of the nature of this process, the brick must be handled by humans for stacking, loading and unloading, which is very labor intensive and expensive. Another prior known procedure for providing brick having a Tudor appearance with rounded face edges is to tumble newly finished brick together so as to mar the surface of the brick. Unfortunately, tumbling of the brick results in breakage and loss of a substantial portion of the tumbled brick and is consequently an expensive procedure.
Prior U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,147,491 and 4,263,240 of Postell, Jr. disclose identical structures for forming simulated old brick. More specifically, a transverse conveyor 14 conveys a slug S of clay into a position adjacent a pusher 18 which is activated to move the slug onto a support plate 12 as shown in FIG. 1 of these patents. The slug is indexed through a wire cutter 20 comprising a plurality of vertical wires 22 spaced from each other a distance equal to the brick height. Two rows of rollers having a peripheral embossed surface are provided above the path of travel of the brick so that the rollers engage alternate bricks that are elevated into contact with the rollers by ramps 24 or 26 as shown in FIGS. 7A through 7J of the patent drawings. However, the rolling contact of each of the embossing rollers with the brick results in repetitive production of the same design. Moreover, rolling contact of a roller with a brick is incapable of providing complicated designs that would be possible with a face-to-face planar contact of a planar embossing device moved perpendicular into contact with the face of the green brick. In addition some brick designs such as those requiring rounded corner edges require exact justification (positioning) of the embossed design on the roller relative to the brick which positioning is difficult to obtain and retain.
Another prior art approach is that of Paul et al. U.S. Pat. No. 4,568,260 which discloses a brick texturing system in which rows of brick pass under one or the other of endless belts having slapping elements 18 for engaging the green brick to give them a textured appearance. This patent also discloses means for lifting alternate rows of brick for engagement with the slapping elements 18.
Another problem with many previously known apparatus and methods for creating simulated old brick is that they provide only a small number of brick designs so that walls or other building elements constructed of such brick have a wallpaper appearance due to the repetitive use of the same design which is visually evident in the finished wall or building element. The use of a large number of brick having the same design in the same building structure is consequently undesirable and reduces the value of the brick.
Therefore, it is the primary object of the present invention to provide a new and improved apparatus and method for making new brick having the appearance of old brick.
Another object of the present invention is the provision of an apparatus and method capable of providing simulated old brick having a large number of different surface configurations and appearances.
Yet another object of the present invention is the provision of a new and improved apparatus and method employing linear movement of a die into face-to-face contact with a green brick face for effecting a textured design on the brick face. The word xe2x80x9cdiexe2x80x9d as used herein means any of various tools or devices, including molds, for imparting a desired shape, form, or finish to a material or for impressing an object or material.
Another object of the invention is to provide brick with an old or handmade appearance which allows for mechanical handling, loading and unloading of the brick because the embossed brick remain in linear stacks.
Achievement of the foregoing objects is enabled by the following disclosed apparatus and method in which a horizontal work table supports a grid of brick formed of longitudinally aligned rows of brick arranged in end-to-end manner with each row of brick being immediately adjacent the next adjacent row of brick and with the brick also being provided in aligned transverse rows on the upper surface of the work table. A hydraulic cylinder actuated pusher beam is provided at one end of the work table for pushing the green brick rows longitudinally along the length of the work table beneath one of a plurality of individual embossing devices each of which is aligned with one of the longitudinal rows of brick. Each embossing device includes a vertically movable actuatable die operable to move vertically downward into contact with the upper face of a brick to be embossed. A new transverse row of green brick is provided on the upstream end of the work table at the beginning of each cycle of operation so as to be engaged by the pusher beam during the initial feed step of the next cycle of operation.
At least two transverse support beams extend transversely across the work table at an elevated distance above the work table and the green brick provided on the work table. Each transverse support beam supports a plurality of embossing devices with the number of embossing devices on each beam being equal to half the number of longitudinal rows of green brick so that the embossing devices on each particular beam are aligned with a brick in every other longitudinal row of green brick. The upstream support beam supports embossing devices that are actuated to engage the odd numbered longitudinal rows (i.e., 1, 3, 5, etc.) while the embossing devices on the downstream support beam are positioned in alignment with the even numbered longitudinal rows (2, 4, 6, etc.) of green brick for engaging such brick. Moreover, a reverse arrangement could also be used.
A plurality of inclined brick lifting ramps are positioned on the work table with each ramp being in vertical alignment with one of the embossing devices so that indexed movement of the green brick causes the green brick to ride upwardly on the ramp into an elevated position relative to the brick of the next adjacent lengthwise extending longitudinal row so that the elevated brick can be engaged by a vertically moveable die of each embossing device. The elevated positioning of the brick with respect to the brick in the next adjacent rows consequently precludes any contact or damage of the brick in the next adjacent rows by operation of the embossing device.
Producing this type of brick by the embossing apparatus and method of the present invention results in the desired textured face; however, the body of the brick remains basically unchanged and the individual brick units are stackable in linear stacks. It is consequently possible to use mechanical loading and unloading equipment to handle the embossed brick so as to avoid the hand labor and expense of prior green brick tumbling procedures.
Other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will be apparent to those of skill in the art upon a reading of this specification including the accompanying drawings.